US and European Union flags at the EU headquarters, Brussels. Photograph: John Thys/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen US and European Union flags at the EU headquarters, Brussels. Photograph: John Thys/AFP/Getty Images Notes and queries Life and style Some people want to break up the EU. Why don’t they want to break up the US? The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions poses a federal question
Read replies: Why is there no rugby culture in Germany?
Prefer the Guardian on Google I f it’s wrong, as some would say, for European countries to come together as a fully federal European Union , rather than individual states, why is it right for the US to be a federation rather than separate states? It always strikes me that the EU gets unfairly criticised for a system that was established over the Atlantic many years back. The US hasn’t looked back, but has become powerful as a result of being an umbrella for smaller entities. Just imagine if each state needed its own army, air force and currency, with its own customs and border controls not to mention trade tariffs! There’d be no White House and no Congress. Why is it so wrong for European countries to want similar strength, coming together as a union? Howard Phillips, Lisbon
Post your answers (and new questions) below or send them to nq@theguardian.com . A selection will be published next Sunday.